'We can't afford new light bulbs'

WITH war looming and the threat of an economic downturn, it's a gloomy time for many High Street names - but one giant is going to extraordinary lengths to tighten its belt.

Currys, Britain's biggest electrical retailer, has banned staff from changing broken light bulbs in a bid to cut costs. The company - motto 'no worries' - says burnt-out lights can not be replaced until at least 20 can be changed at once.

The economy drive also bans window cleaning and building repair work. And store managers have been told the chain will be ordering only medium-sized carrier bags and asked to 'please reduce usage as much as possible'.

Currys' parent company Dixons - which also owns The Link and PC World - saw profits of £297m last year but had poor Christmas sales. Operations and security manager Clive Moore wrote to the chain's 385 UK stores about the cutbacks, saying:

'These measures are necessary to maximise year-end profits and have been agreed by senior management.' They are in force until the new financial year in April.

One Currys manager said: 'I thought it was a joke. It was only after I got a call from head office asking if we had received it that I realised it was deadly serious. I don't know how much they expect this to save them, but it will probably be peanuts.' Several unhappy managers are understood to have contacted the Dixons head office to complain.

Retail expert Bob Johnson, of the University of Warwick business school, said: 'This sends out a really poor message - 'we're penny-pinching and we don't care about our stores or customers' - and really they will only save a pittance.'

A spokesman for Currys said stores were always kept in 'pristine condition' and would not become shabby as a result of the money-saving drive. 'It's a routine way of looking at how we can maintain low costs so they are passed on to customers.'